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If you think Speedos should be outlawed after the age of 30, you haven’t been hanging around with the masters swim crowd who wear their Speedos like a badge of honour. And why not? This dedicated group of athletes spend hours in the pool every week in an effort to stay fit and healthy. Many also look forward to getting faster in middle age than they were in their youth.

Why is masters swimming so popular? Easy on the joints, it’s age-friendly and more forgiving on the body than a high-impact activity like running. And since much of swimming is technique-based, even if the engine loses a few RPMs over time, most swimmers can still cut through the water like a pro.

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Given swimming’s unique properties, does age affect performance as much as other sports, or is swimming the proverbial fountain of youth for athletes? And while it’s a given that swimmers will see their times increase as the decades add up, is there any way to mediate the march of time through modifying training plans or workouts?

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To find out more about the role age plays in swimming performance, a group of Portuguese researchers reviewed several studies of masters swimmers and summarized their findings.

Not surprisingly, all the studies reported that performance in the pool decreased with age, with some studies suggesting time to finish increased by 62 per cent as swimmers moved from the youngest age group (25-35 years) to the 55-plus crowd. Interestingly, women seemed to slow down more with age than men, a factor that evened out as the distance increased.

A good example of the age-related decline in performance was illustrated in a 60-minute swim test. The oldest male swimmers completed 84.7 per cent fewer lengths in an hour than the youngest group of men while the older women swam 105.5 per cent fewer lengths than their younger counterparts.

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Another study charted swim times over the course of a 12-year period and noted a more significant slowdown in long-distance events versus shorter-distance swims. Among this particular group of swimmers, peak performance in the 1500 was maintained into the mid-30s, after which there was a steady decline until age 70.

That rate of decline isn’t the same for every masters swimmer, but it’s estimated that among men, performance decreases about 0.34-0.55 per cent a year for 50-metre swims, 0.26-0.68 annually in the 100 metres and 0.13-0.55 per cent per year in the 1500-metre swim. For women, 50-metre swims slowed down annually by 0.13-0.93 per cent, 100-metre swims got 0.10-1.2 per cent slower and 1500 metre swims slowed down by 0.04-0.94 per cent annually.

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What’s behind the decline in performance?

Several factors contribute to the slowing down of masters swimmers, one of which is technique. Older swimmers take fewer and shorter strokes than younger swimmers, which means they don’t get as far with each stroke and are expending more energy to get to the other end of the pool.

That said, the technical ability of masters swimmers varies considerably. Many hit the pool later in life and lack the technique of those who swam competitively in their youth, making it hard to lump all masters swimmers in the same category.

Another contributing factor to the age-related decline in performance is the loss of aerobic and anaerobic power that happens to swimmers and non-swimmers alike. Most studies suggest a drop in VO2 Max of about 10 per cent per decade after the age of 30, though there is some suggestion that a vigorous training program can attenuate some of that decline.

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As for anaerobic power, the fact that long-distance events seem to slow down at a faster rate than shorter-distance events suggests that anaerobic power (sprinting) is less affected by age than aerobic (distance) power.

But it’s not just the engine losing steam that makes a difference in the pool. Changes to the body and to training volume and intensity also play a role. The extra few pounds that come with age combined with the inevitable change in body composition (less muscle, more fat) can result in small changes in technique and in how a swimmer moves through the water. Add to that the tendency for older swimmers to reduce or modify their training schedule because of increased commitments outside of the pool and more of a focus on maintaining overall fitness and health rather than their competitive edge, and an overall slowing down is unavoidable.

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So what’s the bottom line when it comes to being the best you can be in the pool despite the creep of middle age? The Portuguese researchers suggest that swim conditioning isn’t a one-age fits all proposition and recommend more focus by athletes and coaches on improving technique and efficiency in the water rather than more time swimming up and down the pool.

“Training should include a higher percentage of technical drills to enhance the technical performance of (masters) swimmers,” they said. “The focus would be on the association of technical training with aerobic and anaerobic tasks, allowing the swimmer to increase technical efficiency.”

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